Favorite Finds – A “Broken” Clock
We aren’t ones for keeping things around that don’t work anymore. We are ruthless when it comes to cleaning out the closet. And you should see the heap of goods we will be selling next month in our garage sale thanks to our recent move and remodel. (Don’t worry you’ll get an invite!) Why keep something around unless it’s truly useful to you? Of course, the term “useful” can have many meanings. Something can be functionally useful, utilitarian. But things can be useful in an emotional way, too. An object can recall happy memories of people and places and the aesthetic beauty of an object can literally change a mood from bad to good. Wouldn’t you agree?
We found this old clock a while ago, put it in the shop and waited to see what would happen. We waited to see if anyone else could love it for its emotional utility rather than its functional one. Usually when something is broken, it ends up in our sale bin, but not this particular piece. We bought it knowing it was broken and loved it anyway. We loved its exposed face and its black and white and silvery-ness. We loved that you could set the time and it would never change. You’ll notice this one is set to 11:01 and the alarm hand is set to 6. In fact, every clock we sell, working or not, is set to that very same time. That’s because November 1, 2006 was our opening day. We can look at the clock and be reminded of that first day and think about how far we’ve come since then. It’s a good (and 100% emotional) feeling.
That, friends, is how we get attached to “broken” clocks, among other “useless” things. Leave a comment here or on our facebook page about something “useless” you developed an emotional attachment to and you might win a $25 gift certificate. We’ll contact the winner next Wednesday, August 25th.

e are so pleased that summer has finally arrived in Portland – even though it feels like it’s almost over. We are pleased that the sun is out everyday – even though it doesn’t come out until noon. We are pleased to be wearing flip-flops – even though we pair them with a sweater. We are attempting to remain positive about the sunshine season despite the fact that it has been practically non-existent. After all, if the summer was doing what it was supposed to be doing (luring us outside), we would be less happy stuck inside fixing up our new house every weekend. And if the summer was doing what it was supposed to be doing (being all hot and sticky), you would be less likely to come into the shop and see our new favorite find:


or those of you who haven’t been in the shop recently, we thought a mini tour of some mini things might be nice. While most of us aren’t looking for a living room couch and even fewer of us are in the market to buy an eggplant colored fridge, we can usually all treat ourselves (or our friends) to some of these little goodies:



e met 
